The Savoury Wonder of Soy Sauce in Chinese Cuisine
Come learn more about the versatile culinary uses and unique qualities that make soy sauce indispensable in Chinese cuisine.
To cook up perfect authentic Chinese food at home, the most important thing you need is the right ingredients. Sourcing these core ingredients of Chinese cooking is absolutely essential for recreating your favourite Chinese recipes. You can usually substitue them, but it’ll never taste quite like it does at your go-to Chinese restaurant. Besides, these Chinese ingredients are super easy to get at your local supermarket and are great to have in your pantry for cooking up Chinese food whenever you get that craving for a delicious stir fry.
Here are our 5 essential ingredients for cooking delicious and authentic Chinese food at home.
Soy Sauce
Without a doubt, soy sauce is the most important ingredient in Chinese food. Whether it's salty light soy to add umami and seasoning to a dish, or dark soy for a rich colour, you'll probably find soy sauce in almost all Chinese recipes. Have a bottle of both on hand; they're great for marinating, seasoning, braising and stewing, and are great flavour bases for Asian style dressings and dipping sauces.
Try out this Chinese recipe for Soy Sauce Chicken.
Shaoxing Wine
It's hard to describe the flavour Shaoxing wine lends to Chinese food, but it's that secret weapon to make your dish taste like the ones you get at Chinese restaurants. It's used in everything from marinates, to dumpling fillings, to stir fries. Have a bottle in the pantry and you'll be making authentic Chinese food in no time!
Shaoxing wine is the key ingredient in our Drunken Chicken recipe!
Oyster Sauce
This thick, brown sauce is made with—you guessed it—oysters to create a really intense, flavourful concoction that strikes a perfect balance between sweet and salty. This sauce is a staple in Chinese cooking, adding a hit of umami to dishes, such as stir fries, stews and braised dishes, or simply drizzled over blanched veggies.
Cook up this easy recipe for Chinese Brocolli in Oyster Sauce.
Sesame Oil
Sesame oil is another signature ingredient of Chinese food. With just a few drops at the end of cooking or drizzled over a cook dish, sesame oil can add a lot of aroma to any Chinese recipe. It is also light and can be used in cold dishes, dressings and dipping sauces. However, it has to be used in small quantities so as to not overpower the other ingredients.
Sesame oil adds a beautiful fragrance to our Sesame Prawn Toast recipe.
Five Spice Powder
Chinese five spice powder packs a powerful punch. Used as a spice rub for meat, or added to a flour mixture to coat deep-fried food, five spice powder is a versatile ingredient to have in your pantry. You can also sprinkle some into a stew for depth of flavour, or mix it with salt for something a bit extra. Consisting of star anise, fennel seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, Chinese cinnamon and cloves, buying ready made five spice powder saves the hassle of purchasing individual spices or grinding your own mixture.
Give this Chinese recipe for Crispy Roast Pork Belly a go!
